Two men injured in fiery Norton Shores single-vehicle crash

View full sizeLisa Medendorp | Muskegon ChronicleNorton Shores police and fire personnel look over the scene of a single-vehicle crash early Sunday afternoon on West Sternberg Road. Authorities said a Ford GT traveling at high speed hit a power pole, split in two, then caught fire. A passenger was pulled from the car by witnesses and the driver got out on his own. The front end of the car is seen in the background.

Bystanders came to the aid of two men whose car was ripped apart when it struck a power pole on West Sternberg Road at high speed early Sunday afternoon and then burst into flames, according to Norton Shores police and fire officials.

Both vehicle occupants suffered burns and other injuries, officials said, and were transported from the scene by ambulance. Their identities had not been released as of late Sunday afternoon. No information about their conditions was available.

Norton Shores Fire Chief David Purchase said the vehicle involved was a Ford GT, a high-performance car with a rear engine. Police Chief Daniel Shaw said police were told that the car had been eastbound on Sternberg at high speed.

View full sizeLisa Medendorp | Muskegon ChronicleNorton Shores fire officials examine the front end of a Ford GT that split in half and caught fire early Sunday afternoon after striking a power pole at high speed on West Sternberg Road.

Shaw said a westbound car was attempting to turn left onto a street near the G & L Restaurant when the driver of the speeding car, in trying to avoid an accident, “took an evasive maneuver, slid across the roadway and hit the power pole.” The pole was near the entrance to an Exxon service station, just west of U.S. 31.

The driver was able to get himself out of the wreckage. Three men pulled the trapped passenger from the burning vehicle, police and fire officials said.

Bleeker said he was driving east on Sternberg. He said he heard the speeding car approaching from behind. “It went past me and the car that was turning into the (road near) the G & L stopped in the turn lane,” he said.

View full sizeLisa Medendorp | Muskegon ChronicleA high-speed, single-vehicle crash early Sunday afternoon Sternberg Road, west of U.S. 31 in Norton Shores, injured two men, both of whom suffered burns after their Ford GT split in half when it struck a power pole.

The driver of the speeding car, “lost control, hit the curb, twisted and went airborne and hit the pole,” Bleeker said. He said the pole and speeding car “both split in half” and the car burst into flames.

Bleeker said the driver collapsed near a tree after extricating himself from the wreckage. “There was a lot of fire on his pants,” Bleeker said. People who rushed to help “patted him out,” Purchase said.

People could see a second person in the burning car. “Part of the dash and metal from the door was on top of him,” Bleeker said. Bleeker said he lifted up on the metal and pulled at the seat belt.

View full sizeLisa Medendorp | Muskegon ChronicleNorton Shores police and fire personnel look over the burned out wreckage of a Ford GT that struck a power pole at high-speed and split in half early Sunday afternoon. Two male occupants were taken to area hospitals.

Purchase said Burghuis was able to unbuckle the seat belt. The victim’s legs were tangled up, Purchase said, but the men were able to pull him out and drag him away from the car.

Bleeker said both men were conscious and “it wasn’t long before it (the entire car) was engulfed in flames.”

The downed power pole knocked out power in the area. An accident reconstructionist was requested following the accident, which will remain under investigation.